Summer Nights
by paperplanepilots
Summary: As he stared up at the stars that summer night, he couldn't help but think of her. "Maybe I do have insomnia…" [NatsuxLucy]


**Yeah, Natsu might be an insomniac, or just missing someone too much. ;)**

* * *

"I can't sleep."

A blue cat-like creature with white, feathered wings came hovering over lazily to the pink-haired fire mage, eyes still half-lidded from sleepiness and constantly yawning.

"Natsu (yawn), it's already past midnight (yawn) and you still haven't—"

"Slept?" the young man, Natsu, interrupted groggily. "Yeah. I think I have insomnia."

He sat cross-legged on the bed with pink covers with a ticked-off expression, clearly tired but unable to fall sleep. His partner and Exceed, Happy, secretly thought, _I'm surprised you even know what insomnia is._

"What's keeping you up?" Happy landed down beside Natsu and gazed up at him.

"Well… I've been thinking about Lucy," came the Dragon Slayer's answer.

Happy was silent for a few heartbeats, then erupted. "Well, of course, Natsu! You're in her home!"

"No, not that way, I mean…" Natsu glanced around. He was indeed in her home, sitting on her bed, but how could he explain what he really meant?

"Aye, I'm probably not going to fall asleep again," Happy said, the irritation in his tone clear, snapping Natsu out of his thoughts. "I'll go see if there are any fish in the fridge." And with that, he flew off in the direction of the kitchen, his eyes suddenly sparkling with desire.

The pink-haired young man fell back on the bed, taking in the soft texture and faint but sweet and familiar smell. Thoughts swam in his mind and they landed to that moment from a few days ago.

_He was strolling through the streets of Magnolia as dusk neared and eventually arrived at Strawberry Street,__ and he saw a familiar figure standing in the distance, staring at their reflection in the water canal, standing on the stone bridge__, __two guys on a boat telling her to be careful and not fall into the water._

_"Yo, Luce!" Natsu called, waving with a grin on his face. The figure straightened up and stared at him._

_"Natsu?" Lucy said in surprise. "What are you doing here?" _

_"Well, Happy's at a new fish restaurant somewhere and there's no one else to talk to in the guild. They're either on missions or people like Gray (a part Natsu said with some disgust), so I came looking for you!" the fire wizard confessed, walking up to his teammate. "I was actually planning on sneaking into your apartment." After a few moments, there was still no reply from the celestial spirit mage, and Natsu wondered what was wrong. Usually after a statement like that, she would definitely have a comeback or comment._

_"Hey, what's wrong?" He saw her staring down at the ground. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could speak, Natsu interrupted when he saw the luggage she was carrying. "What's all that stuff for?" he remarked, pointing to the bags._

_"Oh, I was just going to tell you, actually," the blonde mage replied. "I found a job request at the guild's request board and I'm going on a mission, I guess. Since it's pretty far and a fairly big job, it's going to take a few days, at least, maybe even a week."_

_"Really?" Natsu asked. Lucy had expected some sort of a sad reaction from him, but a few moments after, he exclaimed, the grin on his face even wider, "That's great! Some excitement, finally! Are we leaving now?"_

_Lucy sighed. "No, Natsu, there's no 'we' this time, alright? It's just me. I'll be going alone."_

_The grin on Natsu's face vanished as quickly as it had appeared. "What? But… but we're a team. I'm not letting you go alone!"_

_"I know that we're a team. And we always will be," she said, her voice dropping to a low whisper, but loud enough for him to hear. "But I can't keep depending on you guys. I need to go on a mission alone this time and improve my magic too."_

_"But it could be very dangerous!" Natsu argued, yet the caring, protective tone in his voice still evident. "There could be really strong monsters, or demons, or… or…" He trailed off, knowing he was defeated now._

_"I know it might be, but through all these experiences, I'm strong enough to defend myself, even if this is a big mission," Lucy pointed out. She knew that Natsu knew she was strong enough, but maybe that wasn't the entire reason he didn't want her to go. Suddenly, glancing at her watch, she realized the time was already late and she needed to catch the train. "I need to go now, or else I won't catch the next train. I've already missed a few." She gathered her bags and prepared to leave._

_"Wait, Lucy." Lucy glanced back. "Be careful."_

_The stellar mage smiled faintly. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." And with that, she picked up her luggage again and sprinted off into the distance, occasionally stumbling a few times due to the heavy weight._

_And even though he couldn't doubt her words, he still stared after her, suddenly feeling so empty, as her outline finally disappeared into the setting sun._

Natsu sighed as he opened his eyes again. He sat up and turned so he was facing the window this time. The stars were held high in the sky, twinkling and blinking their greeting against the backdrop of night, reflected in his eyes. The stars, they reminded him of his teammate. His partner.

He would look up to gaze at the specks, shining brightly amidst their dark surrounding. He remembered everything she told him, and he would pick out the constellations in the stars. And they seemed so close. So close, that if he reached out, maybe he could feel the starlight…

_Come back soon, Lucy._

* * *

Morning came and sunlight washed over the room. Natsu's eyes widened and he found himself still sitting in the same position. He yawned, realizing he hadn't been able to sleep a wink that night. He got up and wandered into the kitchen, finding the blue Exceed sprawled out, snoring, on the kitchen counter, fish bones piled high around him. He smiled slightly at the scene, then prodded his companion with a hand.

"Happy, wake up!"

"Aye… Just a few more minutes, Mom…" the cat-like creature murmured, then went back to snoring.

"Happy!" Natsu yelled. "Get up!"

Happy's pointed ears twitched and he sat up in a flash, frustrated. "What is it, Natsu? I was in the middle of a good dream! There was this all-you-can-eat buffet of fish and—"

"Lucy should be coming back today!" Natsu exclaimed, running out the kitchen, jumping on the bed and leaping out the open window. "Happy, come on!"

Happy sighed, having no choice, and followed. "Wait for me, my lovely fish!"

Maybe Natsu didn't sleep that night, but _she _was on his mind, and so, for that reason, he didn't care. Sleeping would have to wait, because he had more important matters to await. He bounded out onto the streets and ran for his guild, the grin not wipe-able from his face, as the sun danced above him.

_Maybe I do have insomnia. But maybe that's not such a bad thing…_

* * *

**Just a random little NaLu oneshot. Tell me what you thought! Reviews much appreciated! :)**

**PS I know the bridge is actually wooden in the manga but I'm following the anime, so yeah.**


End file.
